Tag: Brad Holmes

Lions GM Brad Holmes confirms Carolina Panthers interest in trading for Matthew Stafford

Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes confirmed Carolina Panthers had an interest in trading for Matthew Stafford

Walking into the last offseason, the Detroit Lions would see major changes after dismissing the previous “Patriot Way” regime with fresh new faces, Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell, to kick start a new era of Lions. However, when Holmes took over as general manager, the first order of business was at quarterback. It started with potentially losing long-time franchise player Matthew Stafford, with the inevitable rebuild about to occur in Detroit.

Unfortunately, Stafford was at a point in his career where he already experienced a couple of rebuilds and was looking to get the playoff monkey off his back and shed the negative light around him. At that point, Holmes needed to find suitors for Stafford’s services. It wasn’t an issue, with several teams vying for a new franchise quarterback.

Ultimately, Stafford was traded to the Los Angles Rams for two 1st round picks, a 3rd round pick and QB Jared Goff. Several rumors started coming out on teams trying to trade for Stafford, and in a recent interview with 97.1 the Ticket, Brad Holmes confirmed the Carolina Panthers were one of those teams.

The Lions were close to pulling the trigger with the Panthers with an alleged package of their 1st round pick last year and Teddy Bridgewater, but then the Rams came forward with the bigger offer.

There was also the speculation Stafford has a big say on where he ended up. In the interview, Holmes did not answer whether Stafford shut down any possible trade with Carolina. Still, he said Stafford was very cooperative and professional throughout the process.

With the pedigree Stafford held with Detroit and the damaging history with their top players, the top brass would give Stafford a say in where he would end up and make sure he got to go where he believed he could go all the way.

Holmes felt it worked for both sides giving the Rams a potential final piece to take them over the hump for a playoff run, and the Lions receiving draft capital to help “retool” the roster with young talent and a serviceable quarterback who took lumps early in the season but rebounded late in the year.

It’ll be a couple of years before we know who won the Stafford trade, but so far, this looks like one of those win-win trades for both teams. Surely, the Lions would’ve liked to keep Stafford, but this was a team doing one of their top franchise players in history a solid to give a chance, while Detroit looks to turn the corner of league mediocrity.

Brad Holmes: How do you feel about the Lions GM 1 year after his hiring?

Brad Holmes was hired one year ago today. How do you feel about Holmes after one year?

It’s been exactly one year since the Detroit Lions hired Brad Holmes as the team’s general manager. We’ve now had one draft class, one season of free agency and one major trade involving quarterbacks to help evaluate the performance after a calendar year.

Where are Lions fans at on Holmes and his first year? Vote in the poll below and make your voice heard!

[polldaddy poll=11016772]

Here are the results from the initial polling from last year, with nearly 1,500 responses.

Highlights from Lions GM Brad Holmes season-ending press conference

Lions GM Brad Holmes met with the media on Tuesday after the season ended. Here are the highlights of what Holmes said.

Lions general manager Brad Holmes met with the press for the first time since the 2021 season started. His end-of-season press conference on Tuesday at the Lions’ team headquarters in Allen Park offered quite a few points of interest.

Here are some of the highlights and quotes from Holmes in his year-ending press conference.

Lions 1 year after firing Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia: Still waiting for the sun to come out

The Detroit Lions offered hope when they fired Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia one year ago, but the sun has yet to rise for the franchise

Last year at this time, the Detroit Lions had just fired GM Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia after a humiliating loss on Thanksgiving. Everyone was wondering where the Lions and new owner Sheila Ford Hamp would go, but the overall tone was one of relief, of the sun beginning to rise after a very dark time.

“The sun will come out tomorrow”

One year later, the Lions are the NFL’s worst team. In a season with some really bad rosters around the league, no one has been worse than Detroit. Between the meager talent in too many spots on the roster and the foibles and growing pains of a rookie head coach, the Lions remain winless. They haven’t won a game in almost a full calendar year, with the last win coming in interim head coach Darrell Bevell’s debut in Week 13 a year ago. It’s now Week 13 again and the Lions are going to need a lot of breaks to pull off an upset home win over the Vikings on Sunday.

“Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there will be sun”

So far, the sun has not risen. It hasn’t gotten any darker, but the new dawn everyone wanted has yet to crack the sky. Lions fans keep looking to the east with increasingly anxious eyes, but it’s becoming harder by the week to invest in sunglasses that might never be required.

“So you gotta hang on ’til tomorrow, come what may”

Optimism is in short supply, but it is something that many Lions fans desperately cling to. Avoiding the 0-17 darkness was a thin ray of light. Earning the No. 1 overall pick and holding another, improving-by-the-week first round selection in what is shaping up to be a very good draft class, is enough to raise the sunken spirits.

The last year has not gone as well as hoped. While most everyone understood and expected that the rebuild wouldn’t happen overnight, few thought it would take so long to see any positive results. Fans and media are (rightly) tired of moral victories, of covering the spread but straight-up not having a good time.

“I love ya tomorrow, you’re always a day away”

Lions ‘open to listening to anything’ but no activity expected at NFL trade deadline

Coach Dan Campbell when asked about trade deadline activity, “I don’t see anything right now that I can say has any legs.”

The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 2nd, and the deadline has already spurred one major trade with the Rams acquiring EDGE Von Miller from the Broncos for second and third-round draft picks.

Don’t expect anything like that from the Detroit Lions. Head coach Dan Campbell was asked about the possibility of the team buying or selling at the trade deadline during his press conference on Monday.

“I don’t see anything right now that I can say has any legs,” Campbell responded earnestly.

Detroit has been rumored to be a potential buyer on the wide receiver market, but those alleged talks have not produced a single valid whisper. Buying anyone of significance would be wildly out of step with the rebuilding plan and the focus on 2022 and beyond.

As for being sellers, the Lions don’t really have any attractive candidates who would bring back anything substantial in return. Outside linebacker Trey Flowers would be a good candidate but only if the Lions agree to eat a significant portion of his hefty contract. Defensive tackle Nick Williams and tight end Darren Fells, a healthy scratch in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles, could possibly be flipped for late-round draft pick compensation.

Campbell didn’t close the door to any trades. The coach did offer this up in referencing GM Brad Holmes,

“We’re open to listening to anything. But that’s where Brad goes to work. That’s what he does, and if it’s something significant, he’ll bring it to me.”

[listicle id=68182]

Lions GM Brad Holmes attends UCLA vs. Oregon game looking for draft prospects

Holmes was one of several GMs watching the Ducks’ 34-31 win featuring possible No. 1 overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux

The biggest game of the PAC-12 schedule in the college football weekend took place in the Rose Bowl, pitting UCLA against Oregon. The game features several NFL draft prospects, including presumptive top defensive talent Kayvon Thibodeaux for the Ducks.

Several NFL scouts and GMs were in attendance for the game, and that group includes Lions GM Brad Holmes. It was an easy visit for Holmes with the Lions playing in nearby SoFi Stadium against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. Holmes was the Rams’ director of collegiate scouting for several seasons before moving to Detroit last winter.

Oregon DE Kayvon Thibodeaux was the primary drawing card. Thibodeaux is the presumptive top defensive prospect in this draft class and a candidate for the Lions’ first-round pick. He looked the part with two sacks and some outstanding run defense. Ducks CB Mykael Wright is someone typically projected in the range of the Lions’ pick near the top of the third round, and he made a couple of very nice plays late.

Oregon won the game, 34-31. It was not a great draft audition for UCLA TE Greg Dulcich, who had a drop and committed a bad penalty in crunch time. Bruins RB Zach Charbonnet couldn’t create much on the ground either.

At least two other NFL GMs were in attendance for the game, so there could have been some trade talks going on as well. The NFL’s trade deadline is on Tuesday, Nov. 2nd.

[listicle id=67918]

Breaking down the Detroit Lions dead salary cap hits

The Lions now lead the NFL in dead salary cap money for players no longer on the team in 2021

After dumping linebacker Jamie Collins to the discard pile, the Detroit Lions have added even more dead money to the salary cap. Collins’ release adds another $5.53 million in dead money on the Lions 2021 salary cap ledger.

It raises the Lions’ dead cap total to an NFL-high $57.4 million for 2021, per Over The Cap. That represents a considerable amount of money being spent on players who are no longer Lions. It’s the hefty price to pay to jumpstart the roster rebuild under new GM Brad Holmes.

A third of the dead money belongs to former QB Matthew Stafford. The Lions are on the hook for $19 million for Stafford even after trading him to the Los Angeles Rams. He’s one of nine players who are no longer on the Detroit roster who costs at least $1 million against the team’s 2021 salary cap.

Dead money in 2021

(in millions)
Matthew Stafford $19.0
Justin Coleman $6.1
Desmond Trufant $6.0
Jamie Collins $5.5
Jesse James $4.3
Chase Daniel $3.0
Christian Jones $2.2
Breshad Perriman $2.0
Danny Shelton $1.3

Of those hits, the Holmes regime is only responsible for Perriman, who failed to pan out as a wide receiver despite the free agent investment in him this offseason. Kicker Randy Bullock costs the Lions $750,000 in dead money, the next-biggest expense incurred to the dead cap ledger by Holmes.

The good news is that nearly all the dead money clears off the cap for 2022. Collins costs the Lions $6.33 million in obligation for next season, but the only other dead cap the Lions carry over is $758,449 to another too-slow linebacker coveted by the old regime, Jahlani Tavai.

The Houston Texans show the rebuilding path not taken by the Lions

The Houston Texans and Detroit Lions are going about their franchise overhauls in very different ways

Many NFL fans got their first look at the 2021 Houston Texans on Thursday night when the Texans hosted the Carolina Panthers in the nationally televised Week 3 kickoff. The Texans lost 24-9, dropping them to 1-2 on the season.

The Texans and Lions were generally predicted to be the two worst teams in the NFL entering the season. Both feature new GMs, rookie head coaches and radical changes at quarterback from franchise legends, albeit in very different circumstances. Yet the two franchises have chosen very divergent paths to kick off their new eras.

Detroit has opted for the emphasis on youth, trading more of a chance at immediate success and wins in 2021 for the growing pains of developing one of the NFL’s youngest rosters. The Lions tore the building down, jettisoning several veterans and trusting the current season to an insanely inexperienced group at cornerback to go with one of the NFL’s greenest receiving corps. Even the offensive line, the most obvious strength of the Lions team, remains one of the NFL’s youngest.

Houston opted for a lot more veteran spackle and patch jobs. They plugged massive fissures in the dam with the fingers of veteran discards from other rosters.

Take Danny Amendola. The 36-year-old wideout played well for Detroit in 2020. He would certainly be one of the top receivers on the 2021 Lions, but GM Brad Holmes understands that the temporary bump isn’t helping the long-term rebuild. The Texans have no such qualms about trying to avoid the humiliating pain of a radical overhaul. They signed Amendola to a $1.25 million contract to help flesh out their receiving corps.

Amendola didn’t play Thursday night due to a hamstring injury. But several other past-their-prime veterans took the field for Houston. GM Nick Caserio and guiding force Jack Easterby opted to field a roster chock full of “oh yeah, didn’t he used to play for…” veterans. Lions fans know the names well: Tyrod Taylor, Mark Ingram, Christian Kirksey, Amendola, Terrance Mitchell, Terrence Brooks, Eric Murray, Andre Roberts, Rex Burkhead, Marcus Cannon, among others.

Those veteran presences imported by Caserio and Easterby this offseason help ease the immediate pain. They also create the oldest roster in the NFL. All of those players except Brooks and Murray are at least 28 years old, with most well over 30.

Houston is beginning a rebuild with the oldest roster in the league. Think about the oxymoronic sentiment there. The Texans eschewed developing young players, instead rolling with retreads and temporary patches that won’t help the team win in 2022 or beyond. It raised their floor for 2021, but to what end? They’re still 1-2 and appear fated for a top-5 overall pick.

Holmes and the Lions are embracing the youth movement. Look at this week’s decision on Jamie Collins as evidence of the different path. The Lions are rolling with promising rookie Derrick Barnes and hoping to dump Collins, a legacy veteran from the old regime who doesn’t fit the plans in their short- or long-term plans.

Barnes might struggle to get up to speed. The Lions understand this but also understand that if they’re to get to where they want to be–competing in the postseason in 2022 and beyond–they need to take the training wheels off and ride with Barnes. They’ve done the same in the secondary with undrafted rookies AJ Parker and Jerry Jacobs, as well as greenhorn Bobby Price. Playing Quintez Cephus and Amon-Ra St. Brown at wide receiver instead of chasing older “names” hurts Detroit right now, no question.

It’s going to make the 2021 Lions worse. Detroit fans are apt to witness some truly awful football as a result of the precocious players learning their way in the NFL. It’s by design. Holmes used a wrecking ball and a well-heeled construction crew of teaching-oriented coaches where his Texans counterparts opted for applying budget drywall off an old truck to rotten studs and a cracked foundation.

The few veteran bridges (aged 28 or older) that Holmes and the Lions brought in this offseason play minor roles. Michael Brockers starts at DE but cedes snaps and practice reps to youngsters Levi Onwuzurike and Kevin Strong while also mentoring them. Safety Dean Marlowe has played one snap on defense in two games.

Could the Lions be more competitive this season with guys like Mitchell at CB and Amendola at WR? Absolutely. Would it help them in 2022 and beyond? Absolutely not.

The sense of building something that can succeed in the long-term is the focus in Detroit. The Lions have tried the way the Texans chose. That’s how 0-16 in 2008 happened. Detroit did in 2005-2007 exactly what the Texans are doing right now. The endgame was the worst team in NFL history with a roster so bereft of talent that over half of the winless Lions never played another down in the NFL, ever.

The Texans aren’t apt to fall that far. The Deshaun Watson situation will eventually resolve and either land Houston their Pro Bowl QB or a haul of draft picks in return — if (a big if) Watson is permitted to play. The Millen-era Lions had no such variable. But Houston’s reliance on dead-end veterans means they’re delaying the inevitable and necessary overhaul. It’s a more expensive and less effective way to operate to build a winner.

 

Dan Campbell and his coaching staff focused on player development

Lions head coach Dan Campbell and his staff focused on player development instead of plugging holes with veterans

The Lions have a new coaching staff, a new front office and a new approach to building the team. GM Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell have assembled one of the NFL’s youngest rosters, and did so by opting for more long-term upside over more proven but lower-end veterans in a lot of key spots.

The key to making that approach work is to thrive at player development. That’s something Campbell embraces and something he sought in his assistants and position coaches. Nearly all the coaches, Campbell included, played in the NFL.

There was a decided lean on teaching and building in training camp. Compared to the prior regime, it was quite the stark contrast. Campbell understands that the new approach might not produce positive results immediately, but he’s a firm believer in coaching up the young talent instead of paying for guys who don’t have upside left.

“From a coaching perspective, you’re going to have some growing pains sometimes, you will,” Campbell said in his press conference last week. “But the important thing is that when mistakes are made, they’re not repeated. And if you do that and they stay young and hungry and they’re eager and continue to put the work out, I think we have coaches that can develop them, good things will come sooner than later. But I would rather make that move than I would some guys that maybe know what’s going on, but they’re past their due. They don’t have it anymore. It’s not worth it. That’s just, that’s where we’re at.”

The emphasis on youth and development is most apparent in the secondary. There are six cornerbacks on the roster and five — Jeff Okudah, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Bobby Price, Jerry Jacobs and A.J. Parker — are in their first or second NFL seasons. Amani Oruwariye, a fifth-round pick in 2019, is the senior member of the CB room.

It’s obvious from watching practices that these youngsters have talent but need refinement and experience. It’s also readily apparent that DBs coach Aubrey Pleasant is a willing instructor and enthusiastic technical master. Pleasant is always pulling a player aside after a rep to explain what he liked and what needs to be better. He can physically demonstrate it, or explain it on the video screens.

Holmes brought Pleasant along from the Rams and called the Flint native, “one of, if not the, best DB coach that I’ve been around.”

Holmes did acknowledge that the focus on being so young was not necessarily intentional, that the team wouldn’t shy away from adding veterans if they fit in. But the concept of hiring coaches who can develop players and leaning on players who are hungry to improve is 100 percent what these Lions are all about.

It’s this approach to growing talent and focusing on development instead of plugging holes with more expensive short-term veteran fixes that is the foundation of the new-look Lions. It’s what Campbell covets, what Holmes values and what fans can embrace in a 2021 season that will have its share of youthful mistakes. It’s for a bigger purpose, and it’s a strategic path worth trying in Detroit.

Watch: Video mailbag on the Lions roster choices, front office decisions and more

Our Jeff Risdon answers a wide range of mailbag questions via video

Instead of the traditional mailbag segment, we decided to try something a little more dynamic. In conjunction with the Detroit Lions Podcast, I fielded questions from the podcast listeners and answered their inquiries on video.

We got some great questions about the receiving corps, what possible acquisitions could be coming during the season, the philosophy of Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell and much more.

Be sure to check out our interview with Lions CB Jerry Jacobs from Wednesday, too.